Potentially Unwanted Programs

The Internet is filled with free programs and tools making promises they fall short of, or that once installed performs unwanted acts. Potentially Unwanted Programs, also known as Possibly Unwanted Programs or PUPs, are scattered throughout the Internet, whether a website offering or an inclusion in a freeware download. Like adware and legitimate software programs, PUPs may track surfing habits, collect data and send to a third party. PUPs are sometimes called ‘greyware’ because they fall in a grey area and do not necessarily or upfront pose a security threat. Sometimes through missteps of our own or someone else using our system, a program is installed that you want removed. Perhaps it didn’t meet expectations or may be negatively impacting system performance. All programs having good intent should readily offer an uninstall feature for easy removal. In cases where the PC user finds it difficult to find let alone remove the components engineering a program, this should raise a red flag and incite the need to remove aggressively.

If you are highly skilled editing the Windows Registry or are able to follow the technical jargon and mind-twisting instructions posted on a security forum, you may be able to manually remove unwanted files buried throughout your system. However, be very careful not to delete the wrong file and don’t forget to reset viral restoration points as well as restore corrupted files. If a mistake is made, you could corrupt the hard drive and lose valuable data. While you may have backed up your data and programs, hopefully you stored the important and necessary product keys required to reinstall software. To be safe, we highly recommend you use a professional anti-malware solution able to find and safely remove malware without causing harm to your computer and able to restore corrupted OS files and components.

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There are currently 3,294 articles listed on potentially unwanted programs.

Name	Threat Level	Detection Count	Date
Zaxar Games			November 10, 2015
Zeast PC Tuneup	1/10	45	October 20, 2015
Zenon Clipper			September 30, 2020
Zip Cruncher			April 12, 2018
Zip Enhancer	1/10	386	December 1, 2015
Zip4NewTab Chrome Extension	1/10	5	November 6, 2017
ZipConvertAce			October 29, 2020
ZipperFile	1/10	7	October 21, 2015
ZipperPro	1/10	7	October 27, 2015
Zminer.exe Miner			May 7, 2018
Zolta Registry Cleaner	1/10	19	February 29, 2016
Zombie News	1/10	1	December 22, 2014
Zoom Player	1/10	10,893	December 19, 2015
Zoom Zoom Ads	2/10	7	March 17, 2015
ZoomApp	8/10	1	April 29, 2015
ZoomIt Ads	2/10	1,533	January 15, 2015
Zula Games			November 4, 2013
Zwinky Toolbar	1/10	6,962	August 12, 2013
ZX Player	1/10	69	December 2, 2015

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